Image above: Steaming bowl of absolutely delectable beef pho for dinner … and this was just the first of two bowls I wolfed down. [Tuesday 15 September] / [View all photos]
Day 11 and both my final day in Wellington as well as my first day in Melbourne.
With a mid-morning flight it was a relaxing start to the day giving a goodbye hug to Clara who was off to work that morning before helping Richard take Tomas to nursery with Nico in tow. As always Tomas was in a playful mood and doing all sorts with the playground apparatus. So sad to say goodbye to him as I’ve had so much fun with him around. He even asked if he could come with me which was tempting but with another eight places ahead of me – not entirely that practical and I think that Clara would’ve had something to stay about that! :P
The flight to Melbourne via Auckland was uneventful watching a few films and sleeping a lot. I still love being able to just get on a plane and be somewhere totally different when you get off. Don’t think that I’ll ever tire of that though, must confess, did come close during this trip with so many plane trips so tightly packed together!
Arriving in Melbourne, it was such a delight to see Lynn once again. The last time was just back in April when she visited me in London looking radiantly pregnant. And now this time I not only got to meet her new addition, Qian-Yi, who was gorgeous but also her husband for the first time. Yep, although Lynn and I have been friends since 1998, Peter and I never actually ever got to meet until now. So that was pretty cool too.
Lynn is a complete foodie and so dinner that night of Vietnamese really hit the spot. So much so that after inhaling the first bowl of beef and chicken pho I was still so hungry that I ate a second bowl of pho. And yes I did get some odd looks from the other diners but after a lot of airline food, whilst not that atrocious nowadays, isn’t really that filling!
Next up … my first full day exploring Melbourne and getting to meet another best friend of mine, Avi.
Travel Stats:
- 11 days travelled of 29
- 5 places visited in 4 countries in 2 continents
- 30.5 hours spent in 8 planes
- 23,440 km travelled
- 14 time zones crossed
- RTW – Los Angeles – Part 1
- RTW – Los Angeles – Part 2
- RTW – Cook Islands – Part 1
- RTW – Cook Islands – Part 2
- RTW – Cook Islands – Part 3
- RTW – Wellington – Part 1
- RTW – Wellington – Part 2
- RTW – Wellington – Part 3
- RTW – Wellington – Part 4
- RTW – Wellington to Melbourne
- RTW – Melbourne – Part 1
- RTW – Melbourne – Part 2
- RTW – Melbourne – Part 3
- RTW – Melbourne to Perth
- RTW – Perth – Part 1
- RTW – Perth – Part 2
- RTW – Singapore
- RTW – Hong Kong
- RTW – Macau
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 1
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 2
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 3
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 4
- RTW – Siem Reap – Part 5
- RTW – Phnom Penh – Part 1
- RTW – Phnom Penh – Part 2
- RTW – Hong Kong
are you having fun recounting all those memories on your trip? =P
@Justine: Definitely though it seems like a lifetime ago!